Whinchat & Clouded Yellow

Mainly sunny, 22°, light SW.

2 Common Redstart still present on Lollingdon hill, other than that pretty quiet out there.

Alan found a Whinchat along the Bunk Line this morning. The first of the autumn passage.

I went along there later in the afternoon and Alan was watching it but it abruptly disappeared not to be seen again! “C’est la vie”.

Migrants appear to be on the move but in dribs and drabs so far.

The Black-headed Gull still frequenting the Millennium field and appears to be moulting out of summer plumage.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Brown Hawker and Common Darter.

Butterflies: Small Skipper, Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Brown Argus, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Comma, Speckled Wood, Marbled White, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and Ringlet.

Tony Rayner undertook a butterfly count in his site today.

The results are - Red Admiral 1, Small Copper 1, Small Heath 1, Holly Blue 1, Comma 1, Small/Essex Skippers (probably Essex) 2, Clouded Yellow 2, Large White 3, Ringlet 3, Green-veined White 3, Marbled White 4, Peacock 5, Common Blue 9, Brown Argus 12, Meadow Brown 41, Gatekeeper 52.

Also present but not seen on this occasion Small White, Small Tortoiseshell, Speckled Wood. WLH - flight season now considered to be over. The Clouded Yellows were the first of the year in Cholsey this year.

One Beautiful Demoiselle seen in garden and a male Emperor Dragonfly three days ago.

Whinchat photos courtesy Alan.

Halfway

Overcast with light rain, 15°, light SSW.

An early walk out to Lollingdon and back.

The Black-headed Gull cruising the Millennium field and nearby areas this morning and a Grey Wagtail near the Bullshole.

There has been 2 BHG’s noted in the area and 3 more joined them one evening last week. Per AM & JW. The 3 may have been passing thru?

The one or two have been present for the last couple of months and maybe are non-breeders. They usually breed in wetlands. i.e. coastal, reservoirs, lakes, marshes etc. and are a colonial breeder. They have not bred in Cholsey to my knowledge but a few are seen along the Thames in summer. However there is an outside chance they may?

2 Little Owl seen out at Lollingdon and 18 Lesser Black-back Gull flew north east over the hill.

A Kestrel hunting over the hill, several Swift feeding overhead and 2 Mistle Thrush briefly and all the usuals present.

A Yellow Wagtail overhead Little Lollingdon.

Alan walked the Bunk line this morning with good numbers of Swallow, House Martin and Sand Martin around. And also saw a Hornet Robberfly.

2 Common Sandpiper flying down river yesterday. Per Paul Rainsden.

A Treecreeper and a Chiffchaff in the garden this afternoon

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Butterflies: a single Meadow Brown noted.

Not one but two Little Owl

 A pair of Common Whitethroat scalding me this morning and I realised I was too close to their nest site. So moved away post haste!

 Brown Hare

Grey Heron (courtesy Alan Dawson)

A little of everything

Another sunny day, 28°, light SSW.

June is generally a quiet month out at Lollingdon. Our resident birds and summer visitors are busy rearing young and any mammals are difficult to locate in the high crops.

Insects appear in numbers this time of year but as it is farmland and not managed environmentally the diversity is not there unfortunately.

Anyhow, 2 Kestrel were hunting the hill today and 2 Raven flew south east over the hill and a few Swift Feeding over the area and a Hobby seen flying towards Aston.

The adult Black-headed Gull still around and foraging in the Millennium field area most mornings.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle, Azure Damselfly and Emperor Dragonfly.

Butterflies: Small Skipper, Large Skipper, Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma, Speckled Wood, Marbled White, Meadow Brown, Ringlet and Small Heath.

Moths: Silver-Y and Cinnabar. And a Five-spot Burnet in a Cholsey garden. Per Alan Baker. 

 Yellowhammer

 Banded Demoiselle

 Corn Bunting

 Small White

Meadow Brown

Also a new moth for Cholsey recorded recently. A Hornet Clearwing. Have requested permission to post a photo on Cholsey Wildlife and credit the finder but no response as yet and apparently the county recorder for moths in Berks, Bucks and Oxon is interested in this record as it is a scarce species.

The photo is of one from last July in Wallingford. Courtesy Alan Dawson.

And another new moth, a Yarrow Plume caught by Tony Rayner last week and following on from one in Aston Tirrold before that. Per VG.

Untitled

Sunny, 21°, light SSW.

The adult Black-headed Gull still foraging over the Millennium field and adjacent areas and the Little Owl seen briefly out at Lollingdon.

All the usual suspects present and a Kestrel hunting over the hill, a few Swift feeding overhead and several Swallow family groups flying south.

Mammals: Brown Hare.

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle.

Butterflies: Large Skipper, Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma, Speckled Wood, Marbled White and Meadow Brown.

Common Buzzard

 Large Skipper ↕

 Comma (underwing showing the comma)

 Small Tortoiseshell

 Kestrel (5 photos)

 Marbled White

 Song Thrush

 Meadow Brown ↕ (upper and underwing)

Yellowhammer

Breezy

Sunny spells, 19°, breezy SW.

A little cooler than of late and a stiff south westerly blowing as a low pressure system passes through.

Still a few songsters in full flow out there so I thought I would count on the way out to Lollingdon

Numbers as follows: 15 Common Whitethroat, 11 Yellowhammer, 7 Blackcap, 5 Chiffchaff, 4 Corn Bunting, 3 Reed Bunting and 1 Lesser Whitethroat. None were photogenic enough to allow a photo today unfortunately.

The hill itself was somewhat quiet with just as few Buzzard and Red Kite soaring above and a steady flow of Rooks flying over to the pig fields.

And a large unidentified Gull flew north over the hill.

An adult Black-headed Gull (ringed) quartering the Millennium field on the walk out and a Goldcrest heard singing in the Millennium Wood.

Mammals: Brown Hare & Roe Deer.

Dragonflies: 1 female Banded Demoiselle near the Bullshole.

Butterflies: again very few and poor diversity: 1 Brimstone, a handful of Large and Small White and a Speckled Wood in the garden.

 Black-headed Gull ↕ leg ring seen on bottom photo.

Yellowhammer

Busy Garden

Cloudy then rain, 8°, fresh SSE.

A windy and wet day and not particularly fond of birding in those conditions, so a watch kept on the garden and a busy garden it was!

A lot more Finches today, the usual Tit flocks with associated species including Coal Tit, Treecreeper, Great-spotted Woodpecker (2), Green Woodpecker and a few House Sparrow.